Rail joint



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g einer nain JOINT.

Appiicanon ined may 26,

To ali w 7mm 1f/'may concern:

Be it known that Grieken YV.' FULLiin-i rron, a citizen of the United States, residing at Meli/ischen, in the county of .Marshall and State of `West `Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Raillioints, of which the following is a specification. n

My present invention has reference Lto means for connecting the confronting ends of railway rails, v

My object is to produce a connecting. means for railway rails which shall be et an extrenielylsimple construction, wherein the employment of bolts passing through and u'eifvlrening the webs of the railsv will be entirely dispensed with., and Ywherein the rails-will have a wedging'engagenientwith the? joint that supports theends thereof.

A further object is to produce' a wedge joint for railway' rails which may not only successfully be vemployed in connecting the` ends of rails, lbut which may be valso einployed as an effective splice for broken-rails.v The foregoing objectsv may' -be .accomplished by a construction, combination and operative association of parts such as is disclosed bv the drawings which accompany and which forni part of this application.

In the drawings Figure l is a plan View of two rails having their ends connected in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is side elevation thereof.

Figure 3 is a sectional View on the 3 3 of Figure l.

Figure 4- s a perspective View of one of the angle wedge members.

It will be noted7 as the description progresses, that rail ends supported in accordance with my invention will be held from tilting or vertical movement, but will be permitted the necessary longitudinal movement necessary for expansion and contraction.

Referring new to the drawing in detail the numeral l designates ties for rails 2 2. Resting onthe ties l is the flat chair memberV S cf my improvement. The chair, at a suitable distance inward of its edges is formed with upwardly directed flanges 4 and 5 respectively. The flanges l. and 5 extend the lenth of the chair and the confronting faces thereof are arranged angularly with respect to the axial plane of the base of the chair, the said confronting faces being parallel. Thus the diagonally opposed ends. of the flanges are wider at one end than at the l line other, and for distinctionpthe wider n notches 14.

i922. j serial' No.' 563,886. l

end of the flange 4C is indicatedbythe'numeral '6 andthat vof the .flange' bythe .numeralA 7. l rlhe said confronting facesA of the flanges'l and fare undercut. Vfhile lnot"illustrated by the draivingthe distance between theL confronting' faces of the flangesI may be s ufi'icient to permit of the passing of th'e'flfanges ofthe' rails: therebetween. l j

vThe means for securing theraile'nds in the chair comprise' a pair of angle fish plates', each of which being of asimilar construction and has its partsreferred vto bysii'nilarfref-Y erence-characters in the drawing. Each fish' platev .includes a base1 8 whoseouter redgeie f formed with an 'angular upstanding flange 9. The inner face ofthe iiange 9 is longi' tu'dinally concayed, as at 10,th`e`v said flange' 9 having its inner face provided withy an" angle incut portionll,'=at its juncturewith the base 8 wherebyto receive thee'dges ofthe baseflanges of thelrails, the `Vertical ange l 9 being of al height tocont'act with,the-unfl der faces of the heads Voftherails, the inner(v faces of the said flanges being shaped to contact with the webs ofthe rails, while the concaved depressions or grooves lOpermit of a yieldability ofthe vertical flanges 9 so that an abrupt contact therewith will notv occur when the wheels of weighted vrolling stock pass over the joint. To more materially assist in this connection the outer but Lipper portion of each of the Vertical flanges of the angle sh plates is reduced7 `being rounded inwardly for its entire length, asindicated by the numeral 12, and from the juncture of the said conca-ved or inwardly rounded portions l2l to the lower edges of theflanges 10 the outer faces of the said flanges are cut at a downward and outward inclination, as indicated bythe numeral i3. The downwardly inclined faces {lofthe flanges gradually,increasein thickness frein one end of theangle r'ish plate to theother end thereof, and the inclination-of the said .flanges corresponds wi n the inclined inner face of the flanges d and 5, it their narrenier ends the beveled and inclined f re formed with of the angle wedge fish plates a In practice, one of the wedge fish plates iiiay be arranged in the chair and the krails may rest upon the base 8 thereof. The sec ond wedge fish plate is then 'inserted from iio the widerspace between the flange et or 5.,l

and the websof the rails. It is, of course,

obvious that a. force of pressure must be eX- erted upon the thickened end of the'I last mentioned wedge iish plate, .but when the saine l is fully driven home the. notch, llthereo'f.

- will register withianengular opening 15" ad? jacent to the diagonally opposed cornerswoitv the chair 3, the vopposite corners being pro.- vided with straight openingss-l6zv Allef the.v

openings lenter the flanges 4 and 5, and passing y through7 the lirst" mentioned Topen'inggsf 15 are singularly arrangedspikes 17 which, of course,V also enter the ties 1,v s1milarzsp1les 18 being.driventhrough the-straight open-' ingsflendv enteringltheftief.. In this inannerI thel Joint effectively engagesethe. rails,

kandgis, effectively securedve onztheY ties; l j

While my improvement is perticnlarly4 designed as a joint for; the feenfrontingfend'sof railsfandf is iidaptedfto minimize f time :and labori expended in corniectingfthensaid rails', aswell as to dispense with theemployment\ of the holte and nuts. and the weakening effeet thereoffuponqbot'h thejoint` and rail ends, ythe improvement-mey loe-'employed with equalseiiiciency4 as n splice-fer loi-ckeny y rails.

whose inner walls are disposed at an inward inclination, said flanges having their inner :tac-es arranged. angular-ly with respect to the axial plane ofthe hase of the chair and their seid'v'inner felces'parallel lmnd undereut, wedge plates each includingV a flut base to be received on the base of the chair amidon Vwhichr the these flanges of the rails rest, each of said plates having its' outer edge formed with e'verticzillflangewhich is centitzilly concaved'. inwardly. andY is 'recessed downwardly Aand ioutwardlyV from its-said concavity. to i reeeivefthezedges ofy thehese flangesfof:V the Arails therein, sri-AidY vertical-1 plates contaeting'with the 'under eesof the heads of' the rails `sind having-theirnpperr portions .rounded inwardly `throughout their lengths and from thence beveled; outwardly` and 'downwardly7 said last mentioned-{portionsxgrzidually'decreasing in width from one xto the "opposite endfthei-eoi-fV wherebythe samefiney ybe inserted in ithe chair frornfopposite ends.- i thereofy vrespectively -to eentact with the: opposed inclined faces` O15-fthe {lange-sdf: the. reduced outer edge 1 of eaehnofy.

the wedge'anemhers being-,notehed5 theehein having-1; diagonally. lopposed l angular open-f ingsr-y designed` to v registerA with Ythe@metehes and p to receive spikes: therethroughl whielr A f enter' thefgties; and other spikes also :passing through Athe chain anduentering the ftes In :testimonyl whereof affix, inv signature;

GEORGEV` FULIJER-TQN 1 

